Heroism
by Indythewolf
Summary: In which dream Marco is kind-of a failure but real life Marco really comes through. Or, Star has a nightmare and needs her best friend. Slight Starco, not too heavy on the romance but VERY heavy on the fluff.


A/N: Before you guys say anything I know it is not properly formatted and may have some sentences that don't flow too great, I wrote this late at night for no real reason except for fun, and published it kinda hastily. Anyways please let me know if there are any obnoxious spelling or grammar mistakes and I'll do my best to fix them. Hope you enjoy! Feel free to DM me if you wanna talk Starco ;)

Disclaimer: I do not own Star vs the Forces of Evil or any of its characters, and do not lay claim to them in anyway.

 **She was running. From what or where to she wasn't sure, but she was running for her life. Her bare feet stumbled frantically over the cold, course rocks, occasionally slicing the tender flesh on a jagged edge. She gasped as her ankle twisted suddenly, one misstep that sent her tumbling in a heap to the ground. She was aware only of her ragged breathing, and a sharp** **pain** **slicing from her ankle up through her leg.**

 **The only other thing that seemed to pierce through her hazy senses was the fear.** **She was terrified, though she knew not what of. Her body told her that it didn't matter what the object of her fear was, only that it was getting closer, and that she had to get away. She could sense it, whatever it was. Could feel its presence getting closer, sending chills of icy panic through her veins. She could hear its breath like a whisper in the wind, softly calling to her, taunting her. In a borderline hysteria, she scrambled frantically against the ground, trying to stand, crawl, anything to get away from it.**

 **And yet the ground seemed to be grabbing at her. It stuck to her hands, to her knees, reaching up with muddy claws to trap her in its grasp. And then HE appeared. Her breath stopped in her throat, her struggling ceased. She could see him now, clear as day, Ludo. Except it wasn't Ludo, not in form. This monster was something out of her worst nightmares, the very thing that had lurked in the darkest corners of her mind for years, to terrifying to bring to light. And it had Ludo's eyes, cold, piercing, menacing. As she watched, its deformed beak split into a wicked grin, exposing needle-like fangs.**

 **"Well, princess," Ludo cooed, in a rough voice that was far from his own, "it looks like your time has run out."**

 **The ground shook as he stepped towards her, jagged claw-like shards extending from his fingers. And she was trapped, paralyzed under his gaze, and overwhelmed with fear. She knew this was it, knew she was going to die, knew that no amount of magic or wishing could save her now. As the monster reached towards her, claws unsheathed for the final kill, she did the one thing in the world that she could do to possibly save herself.**

 **"MARCO!"**

 **Marco's eyes snapped opened, and he felt his body jolt suddenly, the thin sheets he'd been sleeping under falling haphazardly to the floor.**

 **"Wuuhh..?" He muttered to himself, yawning and rubbing sleep from his eyes.**

 **He wasn't sure what it was that had awoken him so abruptly, but his heart was beating a mile a minute in his chest, and the second he'd opened his eyes he'd been gripped by an uneasy feeling. Stepping cautiously out of bed so as to avoid waking Star or his parents, he quickly pulled a thin white undershirt over his head and padded barefoot out into the hallway, squinting into the darkness to see if there was anything out of the ordinary. The house was eerily quiet, and the uneasiness that had invaded him earlier came back with a vengeance. He swallowed thickly, rubbing at his chest and trying to tell himself to calm down. There was nothing wrong, nothing unusual about the house.**

 **"Everything is fine, Diaz," he hissed to himself, "Stop it with the irrational fears."**

 **Annoyed with his inert "safe kid" tendencies, he spun on his heel and headed back to his room, looking forward to crawling back under the covers.**

 **A high pitched scream stopped him in his tracks.**

 **"MARCO! HELP!"**

 **Marco felt his heart stop in his chest, Star's voice was high pitched, dripping with pure terror. He was tearing off in the direction of her room before his mind even registered he was doing in. He almost ripped the door off its hinges, crashing in to her bedroom with a loud "BANG!"**

 **"Star!" He gulped, out of breath from sprinting. His eyes frantically scanned the room for the enemy, wholly expecting Ludo and his gang to be cornering his best friend. But there was nothing at all; aside from the echoes of the door slamming into the wall, the room was dead silent, the blond princess sleeping in a ball on her bed.**

 **"What?" Marco breathed to himself quietly, suddenly more aware of the fact that everyone was still sleeping. "I could've sworn..."**

 **Star chose this moment to roll over in her sleep, to where she lay tangled in the sheets and he could see her face. His breath hitched in his throat; she was crying. There were tear tracks running down over her heart covered cheeks, and her mouth was set in a grim line of pain. As he watched, she grasped spastically at her chest, a whimper spilling out of her lips.**

 **"Marco..." She whispered, voice trailing off into a quiet sob.**

 **Marco sighed, walking swiftly over to sit on the side of her bed. He put a hand on her shoulder and shook her gently, trying to rouse her.**

 **"Star, wake up."**

 **Her eyes started to flutter restlessly under their lids, and Marco found it slightly intriguing how her brow furrowed in sleepy confusion.**

 **"Wake up, Star, you're having a nightmare."**

 **He gave another shake, and she startled against him, shooting up in the bed and entangling herself even more in the thin sheets. She slammed herself back against the head board, eyes wide with terror and frantically scanning the room. The bright blue irises fell on him, finally coming up to meet his own hazel eyes with a mixture of hope and confusion. "Marco?" She whispered, "Wh-what...?"**

 **He gave her a sympathetic smile, laying back against her head board as well so that they were shoulder to shoulder. "You were crying out in your sleep, must've been quite the dream."**

 **He was only slightly surprised when her head found his shoulder, her body shifting slightly to the side so that she could throw her arms around his neck. She was trembling against him, and he could tell that she was trying hard not to cry. He curled his arms around her protectively, his chin resting in her hair.**

 **"It's alright Star, I'm here."**

 **She waited until her breathing was under control before murmuring into his shoulder, "I thought I was going to die, he-you weren't there, you didn't come to save me."**

 **Marco tightened his grip on her subconsciously, angry with his dream self for not being there, even if it was just a nightmare.**

 **"You know I'll always save you," he whispered against her hair, "even if it kills me."**

 **Star pulled back to look at him, rubbing the remaining tears out of her eyes, and Marco felt himself blush. This conversation had taken a sharp turn towards the "feelings" zone, that both of them were keenly aware of and keenly trying to avoid.**

 **He cleared his throat, "Is it to much to ask that you'd dream of me riding in on a horse in shining armor? It sounds like your current dream version of me is kind of a moron."**

 **Star laughed, her nose crinkling slightly, "I don't know, Diaz, I don't really see you as the horse riding type."**

 **"I could totally dig horses."**

 **"Suuure you could."**

 **"It's true!"**

 **Her laugh was like music to his ears, enough to break the awkward air between them and brings things back to normal. He started to stand up and leave, but her hand on his wrist stopped him.**

 **"Uh," she was chewing on her bottom lip nervously, and Marco found himself staring, thinking about what it would be like to kiss her.**

 **'Woah!' His mind hissed at him, imaginary sirens blaring in his brain, 'What on Earth has gotten into you?'**

 **"C-could you stay with me? Just until I fall asleep, I mean. I can't seem to shake the nerves, and I think I'd feel better if I had you by my side...?"**

 **How could he say no to that?**

 **Nodding, he kicked his legs up onto the bed, remaining on top of the covers so as not to overstep their unspoken but necessary boundaries. He helped Star untangled herself from the blankets, and pulled the comforter up over her shoulders. She snuggled up against him, using his chest as a pillow. Marco slung one of his arms across her back, tucking her against him. Her breathing evened out into sleep a few minutes later, but he kept his eyes open. He didn't want to sleep anymore. However irrational it was, he felt like he needed to stay awake, needed to watch over her. 'Next time,' he thought to himself, shaking his head at the stupidity of the image, 'I promise to be your knight in shining armor.'**


End file.
